Is AI Right for Your Organization? 3 Questions to Consider

Discussions about implementing Artificial Intelligence seem to be everywhere these days, and the Collections Industry is no exception. Some debt collectors have been early AI adopters, yet others have chosen to sit on the sidelines and see how the landscape develops. Here are three questions to consider when evaluating whether AI is right for your organization.  

How is your organization handling changing communication styles and the expectations of younger consumers? 

Communication methods are changing. Though letters and phone calls may have worked in the past, as the population changes, our methods of communication should change too. Traditional methods of communication, such as letters and outbound dialing, do not seem to work with younger generations the way they have with previous generations.  Delinquencies have been consistently increasing among most types of debt; notably, credit card delinquencies have been rising among younger borrowers.  

Has your organization evaluated whether AI solutions augmented by text, email, and chat will help you reach these younger consumers? 

Are you really communicating with consumers how they want to communicate?  

Generally speaking, we know that different generations have different preferences for how they choose to communicate, but is your organization offering enough options to cover the generational divide as well as the preferences of people who may fall outside the typical generational expectation?     

To make it as convenient as possible for consumers, you should aim to offer multiple communication channels, such as voice, chat, email, and text so that each consumer and demographic can interact with you via the channel of their choice.  Employing multiple communication channels—voice, text, email, and chat—can give consumers a significantly more positive customer experience.  

Has your organization analyzed how AI can help you employ these channels to capture the consumers preference, beyond just adding notes, or toggling a button in your system of record? 

Is your contact strategy stale or is it dynamic and evolving? 

Collection agencies now need to compete with multiple entities to recover payments from consumers, and the agencies’ communication strategy is key. Given the complex and fast-changing nature of the accounts receivables industry, it’s imperative for organizations to evaluate their digital transformation journeys and stay ahead of their competition.  

AI allows organizations who adopt multiple channels to communicate with consumers to better understand behavior and preferred channels across types of debt and demographics. Consumer segmentation provided by AI can give your organization invaluable knowledge of your portfolio, informing key business decisions. 

Have you looked at how AI solutions can steer your organization away from a static collection strategy based on old assumptions and help you drill down your collection strategy in real time? 

Read more in How AI-powered Multichannel Outreach Is Transforming the Collections Industry.